Longmont Florist rolls with the changes

Growers, Internet have been two things affecting the flower industry

Floral designer Linda Perkins has been with Longmont Florist since 1987. Here she is working in the shop at 614 Coffman St. last week. (Lewis Geyer/Times-Call)
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LEWIS GEYER
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LONGMONT -- Since selling Longmont Florist to his son, Brad, Gary Golter has been enjoying retirement, but he still volunteers to help at the business at busy times of year. This is one of those times.

"He still has my phone number," Gary Golter joked last week. "This will be my 55th Valentine's Day that I'll be working."

Gary Golter bought the business in 1969. It had been in business six years at its original location at 614 Coffman St., although that facility has been expanded and upgraded over the years. Brad bought it from his father in 1998.

"Everything was grown in Colorado," Gary Golter said of the shop's early days. "There were a lot of greenhouses (in the state) back then.

"Colorado was known as the carnation capital, because of the altitude here."

Today, Brad Golter said he buys some varieties, such as lilies and dahlias, from a grower in Fort Collins, and eucalyptus and snapdragons come from a grower in California. But most of them come from much farther away, he said.

"The majority of flowers that are sold in the U.S. come from South America," Brad Golter said -- specifically Ecuador and Colombia.

One major source for the business used to be Berthoud Rose Farm, but that shut down in 2005. A combination of factors has driven most flower production from the state, the Golters said, including fuel costs and, especially, labor costs. And U.S. trade laws played a part, too.

Brad Golter uses brokers in Florida and California to get most of his flowers. A few of them are also growers, but mostly they are intermediaries.

"When we find one that we like, we usually try to stick with that organization," Brad Golter said. "We may have to pay more for that, but that quality is worth it.

"From our standpoint it comes down to shipping and quality."

Brad Golter, right, bought Longmont Florist from his father, Gary, in 1998. Gary bought the shop, which at that point had been open six years, in 1969. (Lewis Geyer/Times-Call)
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LEWIS GEYER
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Longmont Florist is part of a loose affiliation of 10 independent flower shops around the country that met at a conference and decided to form a collective. They used to act as a co-op, sharing buying and marketing power, but now they've settled into almost acting as consultants for each other, Brad Golter said.

The other nine members of the group are in major metropolitan areas, including San Diego, Philadelphia and Memphis, Golter said. Aside from all sharing the same software, they get together via conference call and share tips on things such as using the Internet and social media and employee management, and they trade information on brokers. One recent call was dedicated entirely to Valentine's Day strategies, Brad Golter said.

The flowers are shipped from South America in cold storage -- they're typically kept at about 35 to 40 degrees. Keeping them properly chilled is as important to keeping them fresh as keeping them in water, although flowers can spend time out of water for a certain period of time, depending on the variety, Brad Golter said.

Longmont Florist is a big enough operation that it buys in "box lots." A cardboard box, typically about 4 feet wide and a foot deep, holds about 150 long-stem roses or 300 to 350 carnations. Standing orders the store keeps with its brokers helps keep prices stable. Stores with less buying power end up paying more, and they face a hefty premium at busy times of year like this, Brad Golter said.

As with any perishable product, eliminating as much waste as possible by ordering carefully is key, the Golters said.

"That is the challenge," Gary Golter said. "You'll keep good records from each holiday, how many you've sold."

"We look at last year's records," Brad Golter said. "And we look at the overall last year's sales records. If the economy is trending down then we adjust our buying accordingly.

"We buy 10 percent less than we think we'll need, then get our last-minute stuff from wholesalers or brokers."

Longmont Florist makes some of its smaller purchases from a wholesaler in Denver, though that's not as cheap as a broker. If there's a need for a larger order, the brokers will overnight a shipment and Longmont Florist will send a driver down to Denver International Airport to pick up the order.

The Golters urge people to order early because it gets increasingly hectic in the lead-up to Thursday. Brad Golter said that to cover what he expects to be about 1,000 deliveries that day, he'll have 13 delivery drivers working. On a normal day he has one, he said.

"With Valentine's Day, it's a much bigger holiday when it's during the week," Gary Golter said.

"People want to send them to work," added his son.

Protecting a reputation The Internet has brought dramatic change to the flower shop industry. The Web was already in full swing by the time he sold the shop, Gary Golter said, but it's gotten much more sophisticated.

"It used to be people would call up and say, 'Make me a nice arrangement,'" Brad Golter said.

"It's gotten so specific," added his dad.

And the 1-800-number flower companies advertising this time of year? Brad Golter said he avoids dealing with them. Not only are they a competitor, but processing their orders can actually make his shop look bad by the time some of the processing fees are put in, he said.

Both the Golters said that one of the main reasons the store has been able to continue to serve customers all these years is its staff, many of whom are long-timers. Barb Vigil, for example, is now in her 26th year with the business.

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